runlindsayrun

Team Sherri

My body was at the MTS Centre on Sunday morning, but my heart was in Niverville.

Sunday was our big Run for the Cure day, and we joined almost 6,000 people who raised around three-quarters of a million dollars (and counting) to do a 1K or 5K walk/run for breast cancer.

Team Sherri had 28 members signed up, and contributed more than $4,000 to the cause. But we were missing two very important members of our team: my parents. My mom had a rough night with increased fever and swelling, and just wasn't feeling up to being there - something that disappointed her more than it disappointed us (and that's a lot of disappointment). My early-morning phone call with my dad to break the news was a harsh reality check, but an awesome reminder of why we were doing Run for the Cure in the first place.

My mom sent an email for me to read to the team before we started the run, but I made about five words in before I broke down and had to hand off the paper to Debbie - one of my mom's friends who's a much stronger person than I am.

Despite our disappointment about being Team Sherri minus Sherri, we had a great morning. So many people came up to me on Sunday morning with tears in their eyes, saying that they'd been wanting to help and just didn't know how - and that it felt so good to be able to do something tangible to encourage her.

Most of us ended up walking the full 5K, which I realize was a big endeavor for a girl who's nine months pregnant. It was a great walk, though, and a great experience. I'll admit to getting totally choked up as we started the walk, and as we finished. But looking around, I was far from the only one. It was a very personal project for almost everyone who was there - and quite a few members of Team Sherri were participating not only for my mom, but also for other friends and family members who have been affected by breast cancer. It's amazing to me that it could be so sad and so empowering all at the same time.

We took lots of pictures, and had a great surprise later when my mom felt strong enough to join us for our Celebration Brunch at Cora's. We made a little bit of a scene with all our cheering and applauding when she made her entrance, and it was awesome to present her with a signed poster from the team - and her official pink breast cancer survivor t-shirt that I'd managed to pick up for her at the run.

I hope that it gives her a little bit of a push to help make it through her last chemo. We're already planning for next year... I'm thinking pink camo headbands and a new team name: Remission Accomplished.











View more pictures here:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=76524&l=69a6c&id=567710427

Labels: Family, Run (Waddle) for the Cure, The C Word

posted by Lindsay @ 11:14 AM